


Rivals in Love

by mayaqui



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, M/M, Pining, Soonyoung’s as dense as the earth’s core, Unrequited Love, jihoon’s a lil shit, wonwoo is caught in between
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:42:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26136718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayaqui/pseuds/mayaqui
Summary: A series of misunderstandings, that was what they were.“Why is he staring at me like that?”“Looks like he’s mocking you.”“Why are you staring at him like that?”“Im trying to convey my love to him, isn't it obvious?”“Looks like it isn’t because your so-called future boyfriend just flipped you off.”Or where Jihoon’s emotionally constipated and doesn't know how to convey his feelings and Soonyoung’s a brick wall who cant comprehend what he feels towards his two closest friends.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Jeon Wonwoo/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi & Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Rivals in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings to to you all. 
> 
> This idea had been stuck in my notes for years, and today, I finally decided to write it and actually make it happen.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy the storyline and my sad attempt in being funny :DD

“Wonwoo and Jihoon have been acting very weird lately,” Soonyoung whispers to the other four he had been pushed to sit with for lunch. When he tried to accompany the two said boys, they shewed him away because he was too ‘noisy’. Soonyoung wasn’t even _that_ loud.

Sure, he kept on singing this new ‘Horanghae’ song he had recently wrote, but they should’ve atleast shown a bit of pride being the first ones to hear it.

He begrudgingly glances towards their direction and there he sees Wonwoo sitting at the shortest approximate distance that Lee Jihoon would probably let anyone ever sit beside him without him committing attempted homicide. (Unless you were categorized as Yoon Jeonghan then you were safe at any distance.)

“Now that you’ve pointed it out, they havent been bickering as much recently,” Junhui says aloud, taking a bite onto his steamed sweet potato as he follows Soonyoung’s gaze towards the two, “And they have seemed to become very secretive among themselves too.” He adds with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Never do that again,” Joshua says to Jun, “And what was the point of whispering when they’re so far away from us?” Sometimes, he wondered why he was even here in the first place.

“Exactly!” Soonyoung exclaims, ignoring Junhui’s gesture and Joshua’s comment before he stuffs some kimchi in his mouth, “fwo I thnf rers omfring mwo to yer erationshif dan we finf rer is,” (“Though I think there is more to their relationship than we think there is,”) He says in a jumble of in-comprehensive words.

Joshua stares at him with an expression that doesn’t hide his disgust, “I cant comprehend what you just said— I never am able to, but whatever you’re thinking is probably wrong.”

“Oh dont be such a party pooper Shua,” Jeonghan interrupts with an already mischievous smile displayed on his lips, “So what are you thinking of doing, Soonie?”

Soonyoung swallows his kimchi. Eyebrows furrowed, he throws a confused look at Jeonghan, “How did you know I was planning something?”

Jeonghan shrugs, “You’re not that hard to read, Soonyoung,” He said it so nonchalantly that it hurt Soonyoung a bit ( _A lot_ ), so he crosses his arms and casts Jeonghan a challenging look, “Okay, if you’re so sure about that then name what Im thinking of right now-“

“A tiger.”

“Ye- No,” Soonyoung says, trying to hide the flabbergasted look on his face. _Was he really that easy to read?_

That thought itself was written all over his face.

Junhui immediately bursts into laughter while Joshua shakes his head in return, trying to hide the amused look on his face. Jeonghan chuckles while leaning back on his chair, “You’re so cute, Soonie.”

“This is unfair. Anyway, Im not that easy to read, this was only possible because it’s you Jeonghan hyung,” Soonyoung says in a sulky tone.

Junhui, who has now stopped laughing his ass off, opens his mouth to add more fuel to the fire, “Actually, we all pretty much knew you were thinking of a—“

“Anyway,” Soonyoung cuts off, acting as if that conversation did not happen. He completely ignores that offended look Jun casts him too, “As much as I love how my best friend and potential best friend are getting along now, I have to make sure they aren’t going towards the romantic route.”

“Why?” Joshua asks and then it hit him, “Dont tell me-“

“I dont want to have a rival like Jihoon over Wonwoo’s love!” Soonyoung complains dramatically, “Jihoon’s my friend, _potential_ best friend— Im working on it. Additionally, he’s a very hard competitor. He’s cute, smart, and talented, who wouldn’t fall for him? Surely Wonwoo would,” He explains with a desperate look mixed with some kind of emotion Joshua and everyone on the table could definitely pinpoint.

“I cant believe you’re still going on-“

“Joshua, do you want a kimchi slap?” Jeonghan says with a threatening smile while lifting his tray up.

That immediately shuts Joshua up.

Soonyoung looks at the both of them weirdly, Junhui starts laughing all over again, and Seungcheol, who had his head buried in his arms the whole time as he succumbed in his death, stirred a little bit.

“Update us on your research Soonie, we’ll be glad to hear it,” Jeonghan says, smile still intact on his face. It was so comforting, but there was just something in his eyes that held some weird glint.

Well, whatever it was, Soonyoung wasn’t an ophthalmologist, so he shouldn’t give a fuck.

Soonyoung visibly beams, and Joshua felt some guilty conscience in his stomach for a brief moment. Jeonghan felt none of that.

“Okay then, Im going to ask Seokmin to help me with this. I have to go guys,” Soonyoung says as he hurriedly takes his tray and dashes towards direction where Seokmin was sitting with Seungkwan and Chan.

 _Oh sweet, fluffy, adorable Soonyoung_ , Joshua thinks, _You just had to become Yoon Jeonghan’s new target._

“I still cant believe you convinced Jihoon to do that,” Seungcheol comments raspily, head still buried in his arms. He was so tired, not because of school work, but of the future chaos Yoon Jeonghan was going to bring.

“Of course, Im his favorite hyung after all,” Jeonghan says with that sweet smile of his.

— . . . —

“Why are we sitting so far away from the others, and further more, can you stop sticking so close to me?” Wonwoo says, side-eyeing Jihoon, who in turn innocently stuffs a spoonful of rice in his mouth and bats those innocent doe eyes at him. Jihoon swallows the chewed up rice before responding with:

“I already told you why, you dumbfuck. And no.”

Well, that attempt of innocency didn’t last long.

“Is this what catfishing is like?” Wonwoo mutters to himself, and considering their close distance, (their elbows were touching and Wonwoo was definitely uncomfortable), Jihoon had definitely heard it.

For a person who always states he hates skinship, Jihoon sure was good at being pushy about it when he initiates it.

“Look, we’ve talked about this already, and you agreed in return of me helping you with Mingyu,” Jihoon says.

“I still cant believe you let Jeonghan hyung talk you into this.”

“And yet you’re going along with it too. Besides, its Jeonghan hyung, what could go wrong?” Jihoon asks. Wonwoo scans his face for any sarcasm and found none then he thinks: _ah , this boy’s Jeonghan admiration is in dire need of help._

“Are you hearing yourself? It’s _Jeonghan hyung_ , and its not like I have a choice. You pestered me for a whole week, followed me into the toilet of all places, I couldn’t even urinate in peace,” Wonwoo says exasperatedly. He was not kidding, he had to deal with a very stubborn Jihoon for a whole week before he finally gave in.

He even followed him home once, and If it weren’t for Mingyu dragging him back to their shared apartment, he probably would’ve slept over.

Wonwoo really thought he was going to go insane.

“Look, why dont you just confess to him already?” Wonwoo says with a sigh.

“Why dont you with Mingyu?”

“...”

“Yeah, thought so.” Jihoon says as he lowers his chopsticks onto the table. He then turns to Wonwoo wearing that serious Jihoon-look on his face.

“Soonyoung likes you Wonwoo, his countless confessions should’ve already drilled that in your head. He’s not ready for another pain in the ass. Jeonghan hyung told me to stick closer to the enemy, and that’s what Im doing. For now, I’ll be a pain in the ass to you. Plus, we could help each other out. You’re his best friend, Im Mingyu’s best friend, aren’t we having a win-win situation here?” Jihoon says before continuing to stuff his face with rice.

“I dont want to force myself on Mingyu though..” Wonwoo says in a very low voice for only the two of them to hear.

“You wont be,” Jihoon rolls his eyes at his business-partner-slash-now-acquaintance, “By doing this, I didn’t mean you would be shoving yourself on Mingyu with no regard to his feelings. The outcome is a mystery Wonwoo, Ive spent three fucking years realizing my feelings and pining over that idiot, Im not going to go down without him knowing my feelings and without trying to win him over.”

After that little speech, Wonwoo stares at Jihoon with wonder. Huh, was this the same tsundere Jihoon he knew for the past three years?

“You’ve changed.”

Jihoon shrugs as he stares at Wonwoo’s side dishes with hunger.

“You going to eat that?” He points his chopsticks towards the said side dishes.

Wonwoo closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, “And here I thought you just seemed admirable for a moment,” He says, but nevertheless pushes his tray towards Jihoon’s direction.

Jihoon starts devouring Wonwoo’s lunch while Wonwoo, being the worrywart he was, continues to voice out his doubts.

“But isnt it suspicious? You know, the two of us shared this animosity for the past few months and then-“

“We found common ground, and now we’re the bestest acquaintances ever,” Jihoon says all of that in a deadpanned voice.

“..You arent very convincing,” Wonwoo says slowly.

“They’ll believe me once they see me hold up my guitar.”

“.. You know you’re oddly more terrifying when you’re in love.”

“You should see me after an all nighter while Im hungry,” Jihoon counters back.

Wonwoo sighs, takes off his glasses and settles it on the table to cover his face with the palms of his hands. In a tired voice he says, “Why did you of all people have to like Soonyoung..”

He hears the metallic chopsticks clatter on the tray,

“I ask myself that everyday.”

There was some silence between them for a while before Wonwoo gets his glasses and wipes it down with the cloth stored in his uniform’s pocket, perches it on his nose, gets up, and takes his tray.

Jihoon watches this whole event take place before quietly following after the taller with his own tray at hand.

Jihoon and Wonwoo, they had a very complicated relationship. They often had cat fights for the pettiest reasons, and before they knew it, they’ve built a wall against each other.

So when Jihoon started his mission, he knew he had to accept he was being a hypocrite. The whole exchange was very awkward at first:

“ _Hey, join me for lunch.”_

_“... Did your lack of sleep finally take a toll on your sanity?”_

Trying to rope someone you’ve been a dick to for the past few months to help you with convey your feelings to someone you like, it wasn’t easy.

But if there was one more thing Jihoon was good at, it was getting what he wanted.

A part of Jihoon felt really guilty and burdensome for doing this to Wonwoo. He knew if he and Wonwoo switched roles, he would’ve probably threw Wonwoo off a cliff already.

But Wonwoo hadnt done that to him.. yet.

And Jihoon respected him for that.

“.. so when do we commence the first plan?” Wonwoo asks and Jihoon, for the first time after a year, flashes Wonwoo a genuine smile.

**Author's Note:**

> That was a bit short, Im sorry.
> 
> Please look forward to more future content soon, do not hesitate to leave comments and constructive criticisms.
> 
> Let’s interact :D  
> Stan twt: @caratzzi


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